Visiting hours are over for bedbugs at OHSU

Hoping to squash a bedbug incursion, Oregon Health & Science University Hospital has sealed off part of its main lobby for decontamination after discovering the insects escaping from a patient's belongings Saturday.

Hospital staff spotted the unwelcome visitors crawling from a fanny pack that had been stored for safekeeping with other patients' belongings for two weeks, according to a hospital spokeswoman. A search revealed more bugs in the offices surrounding the patient admitting area.

"We talked to our outside experts who deal with bugs, and they said you need to treat it aggressively and quickly," Liana Haywood, a spokeswoman, said.

Bedbugs are wingless, red-brown insects close to the size of an apple seed at their biggest. They hide in cracks in furniture, floors and walls during the day and emerge at night to suck people's blood. Bites leave small clusters of extremely itchy, red welts. But studies have found that bedbugs aren't effective carriers of any human diseases.

Insecticides suppressed them for the past half century, but they appear to be bouncing back in the United States and Europe. They can survive as long as several months without eating.

A 2005 Canadian study found bedbugs in nearly a third of the homeless shelters in Toronto. Researchers surmised the pests readily spread from place to place in personal belongings.

At OHSU, pest-control workers are removing all the furniture from the offices for off-site decontamination, Haywood said. The hospital is considering tearing up all the carpet and replacing it in the affected area.

A search of the patient's room found no bedbugs, Haywood said. The hospital disposed of the mattress the patient used and steam-cleaned the room.

The cleanup will take weeks, Haywood said. Patient admitting is taking place in offices down the hall past the gift shop.

"We don't have any estimates exactly on the costs," she said. "We decided it's more important to protect patients and employees rather than let it become a lingering problem."

State health inspectors opened an investigation Wednesday after learning of the incident from The Oregonian. State regulations don't require hospitals to report insect infestations, said Ron Prinslow, manager of the state's health care licensure and certification program.

"We'll go on-site and verify whether they took appropriate steps," Prinslow said. "I don't think there is any way they could have prevented this."